Comments for Ian Sidden

Comment on Tenor or a Baritone? 5 Questions to Help you Decide by Patrick

Patrick — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 19:23:30 +0000

Hey Ian Im very glad to come across this post, it has cleared a lot up but I have many questions about the voice.
I just discovered the voice between my chest and head it feels like a light chest voice and it kind of resonates in my head, what are some exercises to help strengthen this register and how can I make it sound more chesty than heady.
I want to set up a daily routine of practice because I am extremely determined to improve my voice, for the past two years I’ve just been practicing songs but I feel that I have a lot to gain from some operatic exercises, can you suggest exercises that I can practice daily for say 30 minutes?
Lastly my greatest influences on voice and music in general are Jeff and Tim Buckley(kind of obsessed with them) and the versatility and range of both of their voices is really discouraging sometimes because I can hardly ever produce a sound like them. I think it’s because my passaggio is lower is it still possible for a bass to belt in chest c 5? I can hit c6 in head voice with little strain. Sorry for the arrangement of these questions but I am eager for some answers. Thank you so much in advance. Patrick (16)

Comment on Tenor or a Baritone? 5 Questions to Help you Decide by Thomas

Thomas — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:34:59 +0000

Thanks for the reply, yes big change indeed, as my voice teacher puts it ive always really been a baritone, but with tenor extentions. Now that ive gotten older i’ve lost that tenor extention, and have even gotten a more full sound. My voice teacher has even said she would actually like to retrain me for bass rolls because she says my voice sounds better on a something like sarastro from queen of the night. the passaggio above helps explain some of it.

I know theres a distinct feeling in the voice at A3 where if i dont change my tone i will be in falsetto, then at D#4-F#4 it needs to be atleast mezzo forte if not forte or again i’ll flip into falsetto without egnough volume.In a way its kinda sad for me to be singing in the bass section after used to being in the tenor section lol. My voice teacher says as time goes on i might even lose the bass-baritone classification and just be bass, not a big booming bass, but still out of the baritone range that will be really sad if that happens. Still thats not the end of the world, im sure there are tenors out there that would like to sing bass wouldnt it be nice if we could sing both bass and tenor!

Comment on Tenor or a Baritone? 5 Questions to Help you Decide by Ian Sidden

Ian Sidden — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:00:36 +0000

That’s a pretty big change, but it’s not unheard of. Our voices reveal themselves over time, and in general they tend to go down after we stabilize our voices in post-adolescence until we’re elderly, where they often rise a bit (for men).

It sounds like when you were a tenor you were a low one. Baritones can have a consistent Bb and can often sing as second tenor. Your voice just dropped naturally and moved you out of that higher type.

Comment on Tenor or a Baritone? 5 Questions to Help you Decide by thomas

thomas — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:24:50 +0000

Ive got a question about voice to ask is it weird to be a tenor, then later become a bass/baritone? back in my 20s I could go as high as bflat above middle c I would always be placed on 2nd/low tenor a few times baritone but 90% of the time 2nd tenor. Iam almost 40 now, and now anything above F# above middle c on the piano I do in falsetto, I can go all the way down to C2? the c thats 2 legger lines below the bass clef,im classified now as a bass-baritone, is it weird to have that big of a voice difference?

Comment on Tenor or a Baritone? 5 Questions to Help you Decide by Ian Sidden

Ian Sidden — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:02:27 +0000

I’ll email you.

Comment on Tenor or a Baritone? 5 Questions to Help you Decide by Markus

Markus — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:59:36 +0000

Hello Ian,

thanks for your last advise. I got a serious problem – and Im asking for your advise and help. Im currently enroled as a student at a conservatoire in classical singing in Austria. After every lesson I feel a certain tension in the area of my vocal cords. My teacher is forcing me to put much pressure on the vocal cords – especially in the middle register (from D4 to G4 and A4), also she wants me to carry up chest voice really high (she provoces me to sing “un aura amorosa” like a jugendlicher Heldentenor).

I agree with you totally – Im a light voice, but it seems that she wants to make my voice bigger than its actually is. Do you know a good teacher in Austria?

Comment on Tenor or a Baritone? 5 Questions to Help you Decide by Ian Sidden

Ian Sidden — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 17:30:57 +0000

Hi Markus,

Unless you’re doing something totally bizarre to give yourself that timbre, I’d say that you’re a tenor with no hesitation. Your timbre is very light, and your top notes sound pretty easy. You still have technique work to do, but it sounds like you’re gravitating towards the right material in the Donizetti and Mozart. Stay in the light lyric side of things. If you can work up the agility, then you might look at Rossini too later, but that will take a lot of work. All opera will.

We can all wake up and sing pretty low notes, but they’ll likely go away throughout the day as we work the higher part of our voice.

Comment on Tenor or a Baritone? 5 Questions to Help you Decide by Markus

Markus — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:59:46 +0000

Hi Ian,

I read your article about baritone and tenor voice. I’m 25 years old and Im kind of confused about my type of voice. In the morning when I get up I can sing a G2 (from baritone range) but at the same time I can also perform effortless high B flats and high Bs right after getting up. I just recorded a bit of my voice and put it on youtube. The finale note of Tonio in “a mes amis” and some arpeggio stuff with a high d, also the beginning phrase of Taminos aria in e major. Would be great if you could listen to it and tell me whats your guess about my “fach”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtBiUTKrdfo

Thanks man!

Comment on Tenor or a Baritone? 5 Questions to Help you Decide by Max

Max — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 17:06:27 +0000

Hi Ian!
I’m 18 years old and I started learning one year ago. I have quite low speaking voice although with very high vocal formanta (bright and feels like higher than actually is). I speak around G2 usually. That’s also the know where I feel that sound is best at bottom, although can get down to C#2 without any problems and at better days to A1 (of course it won’t sound that resonant).

I feel like there’s something happening around B3 and I have to work more with my body to support it. For several months had problem with D4 and yesterday with new teacher I achieved F#4. It sounded like my maximum. Sound was consistent and strong as hell (I’ve got big voice) but I kinda couldn’t hear myself that mnuch when I was singing along with teacher. Voice felt placed very much on the top. It was very hard for me to support it and few more takes caused some muscular pain at abdominal area.

Note which I find is my middle and feels best is C#-D3. Not much chance to be dramatic tenor, eh? I have rather dark timbre at bottom while singing, but it brightens up on top.

Comment on Tone deaf? by Ian Sidden

Ian Sidden — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:26:34 +0000

It makes sense, though I haven’t read anything about that in particular. We all have slightly different shaped resonators that pick up harmonics differently. Due to individual variations in the head it’s possible that the way that sound travels to the ear is different as well.

That sort of thing supports the idea that people may have individual issues with pitch matching but should not be considered tone deaf.